One of the rule changes voted in at Wednesday’s league meeting was to lessen the positional restrictions on number selection, letting players have more say in the numbers they choose.
Since former first-round pick Calvin Ridley first joined the Falcons in 2018, it was speculated that he may switch back to the No. 3 he wore at Alabama. The third-year wideout was listed on CBS Sports’ 20 players most likely to change jersey numbers feature, the only Atlanta player to make the list.
However, on Thursday morning, Ridley ended any sort of speculation by saying he will wear the No. 18 “til the end” on Twitter.
18 till the end
— CALVIN RIDLEY (@CalvinRidley1) April 22, 2021
Any player wishing to change their jersey must refund Nike for the remaining surplus of inventory before making the switch. In 2012 when the NFL switched from Reebok to Nike, Adrian Peterson decided to change his jersey number, but in a since-deleted tweet explained what prevented him from doing so.
This rule will prevent many players from going back to the numbers they wore in college. We don’t know whether or not this is what prevented Ridley from going back to the No. 3, but we do know the breakout receiver will continue to make plays while wearing the No. 18 for the Falcons.
